Chance emails, an unlabelled relationship and a Facebook page non-meet: This story will warm your heart

In a wonderful tryst of fate, ‘Soo’ has now decided to share his side of the story. Yes, you read that right. On April 25. Much like a lot of us, he read her story with Humans of Bombay and “had to share” his version.

In case you are wondering how it began, well here’s his version. “I was a fan of her blog and randomly, one day, I decided to write her an email signed ‘Mr. Stranger.’ To my complete surprise, she responded quickly,” he said. “We’ve never met, we still don’t know each others real names, but I know her as ‘Ada’ and she knows me as ‘Soo.’ We don’t need much else,” he added.

In case you are rooting for their love story, well you might be disappointed. “I think its magical this way—it wouldn’t be the same if we crossed these lines. This is not a love story, I know, but she’s not just a friend either—it’s difficult to explain,” he said. “Ada, if you’re reading this, I just want to say, “Hi, I’m Soo! And it’s nice to not meet you,” he concludes.

Read Ada’s full text here.

“I was in college when I met my ex. We both thought we’d found ‘the one’ and he became my everything —but unfortunately, things changed. We couldn’t convince our families to get us married, and he was promised to someone else. I respected him for not arguing with his family, but sadly, the loser in the battle was me. After my breakup, I was lost. I was even diagnosed with clinical depression. Alone in this city, I had nowhere to go and no one to lean on. Attempting to find outlets to help me heal, I became a part of an online discussion for book lovers worldwide. My pen name was ‘Ada’, and there was someone who went by the name of ‘Soo’ who I used to exchange poems and literature with. That is how we communicated, through the love of the written word. But with a frazzled mental state, I didn’t keep up with the habit.

One night, a year later, I received an email with the subject: ‘Scribbler Alert- Chicken Leg pieces and Brownies too.’ That was the first time in one year that I actually smiled. It was Soo! He’d sent me an email asking me why I wasn’t exchanging words of poetry with him anymore, and if everything was alright with me. With tears threatening to fall again, I replied to him and relieved my mind of every thought that had gone unheard. This one email from him broke me open and put me back together all at once.

After that, we began the ‘Adventures of Ada and Soo’ by exchanging emails every day. He always knew when I needed him and what I needed to hear. We wrote to each other every day— no matter the time, we spoke about anything and everything. I don’t think we can ever run out of words…there’s always so much to say.  Over two years, we’ve written around 500 emails. We’ve also started writing letters to each other; which is something both of us look forward to every month. I don’t know the sound of his voice, but I know that he absolutely loves momos. I know that he respects women, and he has a crush on a ‘vespa girl.’ I don’t know his caste, religion, but do I need to? My friendship with him is not based on any social conventions.

Our souls have connected, our minds are in love, and I would never want it to be anything else. I don’t think we’ll ever meet each other, because what we have right now is perfect; people in love search their whole lives for the kind of friendship that we have, so why would we go backwards and look for love? This is a different kind of happiness, a great kind, and it shouldn’t ever change.
We all hold on to the belief that the happy ending of a story is always a white picket fenced house, being married to your soulmate. But what if it’s not? What if your happy ending is finding a best friend who understands you more than you do yourself; what if it’s receiving a letter at the end of a very long work day? Can’t we just let somethings be?”

Read Soo’s story here.

“When I read Ada’s story about her pen-pal on Humans of Bombay, I knew I had to share my version. Let me tell you how it began—I was a fan of her blog and randomly, one day, I decided to write her an email signed ‘Mr. Stranger.’ To my complete surprise, she responded quickly. We’ve never met, we still don’t know each others real names, but I know her as ‘Ada’ and she knows me as ‘Soo.’ We don’t need much else.

For 2 years, we’ve been exchanging letters and emails.. She always sends postcards and I have a collection of napkins from all the different places Ada’s travelled to. Both of us are in our late twenties and I don’t know how tall she is or how she sounds like either. But she helps me update my outdated playlist and has even taught me to cook chicken stew and kheer. We’ve bonded over our longing to be born in a different era; my town is ‘Soo City’ and her’s is ‘Ada Polis’—I tell her about my sunrises here, while she tells me about the sunsets there. What we have is untouchable— appearance, voice, or anything besides our words is…redundant. In fact, even though she was in Chennai last year, we never felt the need to meet.

I think its magical this way— it wouldn’t be the same if we crossed these lines. This is not a love story, I know, but she’s not just a friend either— it’s difficult to explain. Our story is only 14 letters old.. Each one is still a surprise, but one day if she decides to stop replying, I won’t chase her…whatever we share is too special for something like that. Some stories are complete without people being together. Ada, if you’re reading this, I just want to say, “Hi, I’m Soo! And it’s nice to not meet you.”

Well, as it happens, thanks to the common public platform they both now share, Ada and Soo do know what the other looks like, and as much as relationships need not be labelled or boxed, this story of mystic connections is also one of hope.

What did you think of the story? Tell us the in the comments below.